Admirable Animation 33/Transcript
Clips of “Boating Buddies”, “House Fancy”, and “Boat Smarts" One question that was asked to me fairly recently was if I thought there were any episodes of SpongeBob that would have a largely different reception if they aired in a different season. And for the most part…the answer is no. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t matter which seasons episodes like “''A Pal For Gary''”, “''One Coarse Meal''” or “''The Splinter''” aired on; they’d still be seen as pretty bad. clips of “I’m With Stupid”… And provided everything else about the episodes is the same, I’d probably still be in the minority opinion of “I’m With Stupid” or “The Great Snail Race” if they aired in Seasons 6 or 7. “[[Animated Atrocities 07|Stuck in the Wringer]”] However, there is one episode that I do think falls into that category. Clip of… And that would be “''It’s a Spongebob Christmas''”. I’m not going to lie, it would be very easy for me to hate this episode, because…the episode itself has a very interesting attitude towards modern Spongebob. It seems to pretend that the terrible episodes that came out before it didn’t exist. And as such, it tends to dip in what makes bad Spongebob episodes horrible. Spongebob is an idiot. Patrick is a prick. And at other times, the episode seems to ignore some of the horrible things that have happened. The main plot is the townspeople become jerks! Pretending that episodes like “''Someone’s in the Kitchen with Sandy''” didn’t exist. It’s something that can be very hard to ignore, I’ll admit that right now. And these “problems” probably wouldn’t exist at all if this episode premiered in, say, Season 2. Speaking of which, am I going to compare this episode to “Christmas Who”? Not really, I don’t think it’s necessary. The only thing that’s really the same between the two is that they both take place on Christmas and they both have Patchy. The story’s completely different, although I kinda see this one as a sequel to the original Christmas Who in some ways. Ah, yes, Patchy. Considering for once he’s animated, that means that I absolutely have to talk about him. And we’ll get to those parts when we get to them. But yes, the animation. The most interesting aspect about this episode is that it’s made in stop-motion. It looks really good, from what I can tell. Although I don’t know why most of the episodes look like they’re made out of felt, I never thought that the Spongebob characters were supposed to be fuzzy. I say from what I can tell, because when it comes to TV-grade stop-motion, there really isn’t much that I can compare it to. clip of… I mean, there’s Glenn Martin, which, I’m going to review immediately after Elf Bowling, but that’s about it. And comparing this to something like “Coraline" or "The Nightmare Before Christmas” isn’t anywhere close to fair. All I can say is that the stop-motion looks appealing. They get as close to the style of the show as possible, and they do keep it unique-edged, so it’s not pointless. So let’s talk about Patchy! For the sake of keeping things ordered, I’ll talk about Spongebob and Patchy separately. But honestly, there’s really not much to talk about Patchy. Let me give you the 100% bare thing you need to know about Patchy in this episode. of… It’s worlds better than his appearance in “Truth or Square”. That’s not saying much, I know, but it’s a place to start. This is for two reasons. The most important is that he doesn’t overstay his welcome. “It’s a Spongebob Christmas”, altogether, is about 22 minutes; and Patchy doesn’t even take up half of that. Hell, I don’t think he even makes up a quarter of it. The second reason is that he’s not a creeper this time! The worst thing that he does is steal a mail truck in order to get his letter to Santa while holding the mailman hostage. Granted, that’s not a good way to start off his segments, but I’m not looking for perfection here. The main plot is Potty and Patchy having a back and forth argument trying to find a way to the North Pole. Eventually, they crash and do that classic gag where cartoon characters are starting to starve and want to eat each other. If it sounds minimal, it kinda is. It’s mainly a drive to sell a bunch of back and forth jokes. And there is something charming about it. And if you’re wondering, Patchy does get his comeuppance for kidnapping the mailman and stealing the mail truck. I mean, if you like Patchy’s bits here, great. If you don’t, they won’t take up too much of your time. I think it was worth the effort, but I’m more interested in talking about the Spongebob parts of the episode. It starts with a musical number because this episode actually is a musical! The musical numbers in this episode are definitely some of the better ones in modern Spongebob. clips of… Unlike, say, the song in “To Love a Patty”, …and… or “Atlantis Squarepantis”, it sounds like they put effort into them. While I wouldn’t download them and listen to them on they’re own, they’re pleasant to listen to, they move the plot along nicely, and they sound very in theme. And yes, the Santa puppet does look pretty bad. Considering how good the other puppets are, though, I’m pretty sure that’s intentional. It does look pretty funny. And unlike some of the other facial expressions in Season 8, it probably won’t give anyone nightmares! Now we come to Patrick. He wants to capture Santa to make sure that it’s Christmas all year. And if there’s anything I didn’t like about this episode, it would be him. But, he’s not in it for long. And when he does try these stunts to capture Santa, they end up backfiring. Which is pretty funny. Finally, Spongebob enters the treedome…and he does so without a helmet. And I’d like to take this moment to cover my ass a little bit. of “Stuck in the Wringer”… When I tend to make an Animated Atrocity, I do bring up things like Spongebob’s not wearing his helmet a lot. Patrick’s uncharacteristically acting like a jerk! Spongebob is in Sandy’s treedome without a helmet! And people tend to pick apart these little bits of my review, thinking that it undermines my entire argument. “Squid’s Visit”… There’s a difference between a flaw that ruins an episode, and a flaw that provides a minor distraction. Think of it like this: Spongebob not wearing his helmet in Sandy’s treedome is like…a spelling mistake on an otherwise really good essay. …and… In a bad episode like “Face Freeze!”, it’s a'' problem, but not ''the problem. “Demolition Doofus” “It’s my job to point out things like that.” Minor things don’t really destroy an episode for me unless it’s something like “House Fancy” or “Peter Problems”. And this episode does have a few smaller problems, but it doesn’t ruin the overall product. clip of “Last of the Starmakers” Despite what many people think, I don’t demand perfection. But it is nice when I can get it. And the positives of this episode significantly outweigh the negatives. For example, the song not only sets up the plot, but it puts each of the major characters into the episode. clip of “Truth or Square” So many Spongebob specials ignore the secondary characters and instead resort to padding it out with filler and confusing plot-lines that don’t make much sense. Yes, Mr. Krabs is obviously greedy in this episode, but it seems really in-line with his original personality. We learn that Plankton has been really naughty. And there’s something here that I really like: a freeze-frame bonus. You know, spending a little extra time on something that most people probably won’t see, to have a little bit of re-watch value or a little bit of polish. If you pause the screen, we see that some of Plankton’s evil deeds are of larceny, littering, taunting puppies, and neglecting grooming. Due to these deeds, Plankton constantly gets a stocking full of coal. Karen tells him that he would get something better if he wasn’t the biggest jerk in Bikini Bottom. And Plankton has a plan for this. He’s going to give people fruitcake laced with jerktonium. Which basically makes people big, fat jerks. The first person Plankton sees is Spongebob. And Spongebob does eat a bunch of the fruitcake! But he doesn’t get affected for some reason, even after eating dozens of fruitcakes. Spongebob decides that everyone should eat the fruitcakes, and Plankton lets him, down trotting that his plan has seemingly failed. I really shouldn’t have to explain why it’s different to something like “The Krabby Kronicle”, right? of same Spongebob doesn’t know that he’s doing something wrong, so he’s able to keep his naivety and be undisputedly the good guy of the episode. Also, it’s Plankton, the show’s villain, getting him to do these things. That’s kind of important. So Spongebob goes and starts feeding everyone fruitcake, which turns them into jerks. of… It’s becoming more and more clear to me that I probably should have reviewed an episode like “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Sandy” before this… But I think I can manage. And I have something else planned for…that particular episode. But, in many episodes, the people of Bikini Bottom have been horrendous jerks…without the influence of fruitcake. to “It’s a Spongebob Christmas” And here’s what this episode comes down to, for me at least. I’m not letting what has happened get in the way of what should happen. This is how the people of Bikini Bottom should become jerks. They shouldn’t be jerks of their own volition, even in an episode like, “''The Sponge Who Could Fly''”. Not to mention their jerkiness is actually funny for once! Little fish: I want a sled, and a truck, and a bike… Santa: Well, why don’t you get a job and buy all that junk yourself?! Also, the truck going off a cliff doesn’t explode and put Squidward into a full-body cast. Spongebob isn’t affected by the jerktonium because of his innocent love of the holiday. Which is definitely something I’m willing to buy. clip of “Cephalopod Lodge” It’s better than having him defy the plot because he’s the main character. They’re coming up with reasons that are relatively reasonable. It’s stuff like that that makes it hard for me to pick on the flaws of this particular episode. Plankton: Plan B, meet Karen. Now go, my automated agent of naughtiness! Go and destroy Spongebob’s good name! Also, it hands me jokes on a metallic platter. Which is good for any episode, as far as I’m concerned. As the Robo-Sponge goes destroying things, we see that the slapstick in this episode is actually funny! And not painful for once. Spongebob eventually finds out that everyone is acting like a horrible jerk. Except Patrick! He’s acting normal. Patrick: I think it’s pretty obvious, Spongebob. fruitcake I’m eating fruitcake, and setting a tiger trap for Santa! Now if you don’t mind, I’m kinda busy right now. This gets Spongebob worried. If people don’t act nicer, Santa’s gonna fly right past Bikini Bottom. Spongebob tries to get help. He goes to Squidward, and Squidward sends him right to Sandy. Then Robo-Sponge beats Squidward over the head with a door. As long as an actual defined villain and an antagonist is doing it, it’s a start. Okay? It’s a start. At Sandy’s house, and through some shenanigans, the fruitcake falls into the Christmas magic analyzer that she was building earlier. They learn that the fruitcake is laced with jerktonium. Spongebob is immune to it though, because of his tiny brain and his pure heart. But everyone else needs an antidote. Which just so happens to be a song. Now, this song was made before the episode. Probably before it was even planned out. I don’t mind it that much, because they didn’t make the entire episode just to play that song. Helping it is the fact that I like it a lot more than “The Best Day Ever”. The lyrics are way more well-thought out, and the singing is far more under control. It’s also a clever way to show off what they can do with the stop-motion animation. This song manages to save everyone in Bikini Bottom. But unfortunately, it seems to be too late. Everyone in town is on the naughty list except Plankton. So he gets the Krabby Patty formula. Spongebob tries to say something, but apparently, he’s the worst jerk of all! He’s over there right now, wreaking havoc! That’s good comedy. Considering the robot wants to destroy Christmas, it attacks Santa, and it becomes even bigger! And we have an action-packed climax. It’s actually pretty good. When it’s destroyed, they find out that the robot belongs to Plankton, and they bury him in coal. And that was “''It’s a Spongebob Christmas''”. It has its problems, but nothing that destroys the episode or even really harms it. The important characters are completely in character. The story is completely coherent. And the things that they do forget about don’t ruin the plot in any way whatsoever. I mean, even "Christmas Who" had a couple of things like that. After Sandy told Spongebob what Christmas was, she vanished from the story. And besides that, she probably should’ve been hibernating. Santa only came to Bikini Bottom after they knew what Christmas was. Still, small stuff. Do I think that this episode is as good as "Christmas Who”? No, but I do think it’s in the ballpark. It’s nice, and that’s the one thing that I really like to say about Spongebob episodes. “SpongeBob SquarePants” is owned by Viacom Credits music: “Crysta” - Terranigma OST This video was made for review purposes as such falls under Fair Use. No copyright infringement was intended by this video, and it is NOT intended to be a substitute of the animation in question. Thank you for watching! Category:Transcripts Category:Admirable Animation Category:Season 2 (Admirable Animation)